R5 engine - history, design and application

The R5 engine has five cylinders and is a piston engine, most commonly an internal combustion engine. The first work was carried out by Henry Ford himself, and the technology of a five-cylinder internal combustion engine was also developed in Italy. Find out more about this strain!

The beginning of the five-cylinder unit

Henry Ford began developing the five-cylinder engine in the late 30s and early 40s. The goal was to create a unit that could be installed in a compact car. The initiative did not generate much interest due to the lack of demand for compact cars in the US at the time.

At the same time as Ford, the five-cylinder engine was developed by Lancia. An engine installed on trucks has been created. The design proved successful enough to replace 2-cylinder diesel and 3-cylinder petrol engines. The first model of the R5 engine, called RO, was followed by the 3RO variant, which was used by the Italian and German armed forces during World War II. Production continued until 1950.

First spark ignition variant and R5 petrol version.

The first spark-ignition powertrain was used in Mercedes factories in 1974. The model name of this diesel model is OM617. A simple five-cylinder design was also created at the Volkswagen Group plant - the Audi 100 was equipped with a 70 R2.1 gasoline engine at the end of the 5s.

Powerful versions of five-cylinder engines

Several powerful five-cylinder engines were produced. Turbo engines were also developed that were installed in sports cars - these solutions were also used in production cars. One of them was the Volvo S60 R with a 2,5-liter turbocharged inline five-cylinder engine producing 300 hp. and 400 Nm of torque.

Another car with a high performance R5 engine was the Ford Focus RS Mk2. This is the same model as Volvo. The result is an extremely powerful front-wheel drive car – one of the most powerful ever. The group of high-performance five-cylinder engines also includes the Audi RS2 with a turbocharged 2,2-liter model with 311 hp.

List of notable five-cylinder diesel engines

As mentioned earlier, the first diesel was the Mercedes-Benz OM 617 3,0 year of manufacture with a volume of 1974 liters, which was used in a car with the designation 300D. He enjoyed a reputation and was considered a reliable power unit. In 1978, turbocharging was added to it. The successor was the OM602, installed on the W124, G-Klasse and Sprinter. A turbocharged version of the R5 engine with Common Rail C/E/ML 270 CDI technology was also available on the OM612 and OM647 models. It was also used by the manufacturer SSang Yong, installing it in their SUVs.

In addition to the vehicles listed, the Jeep Grand Cherokee used five-cylinder powertrains. It was available with a 2,7L Mercedes inline diesel engine from 2002 to 2004. The unit was also installed on Rover Group cars - it was a Td5 diesel version from Land Rover Discovery and Defender models.

The popular R5 engines also include units manufactured by the Ford brand. Turbocharged five-cylinder 3,2-liter engines from the Durateq family are found in models such as the Transit, Ranger and Mazda BT-50.

Fiat also had its own five-cylinder diesel unit. It was present in the Marea car models, as well as in the sub-brands of the Italian manufacturer Lancia Kappa, Lybra, Thesis, Alfa Romeo 156, 166 and 159.

5-cylinder petrol engine

The first version of the five-cylinder petrol engine appeared in 1966. It was made by Rover engineers and had a power of 2.5 liters. The goal was to boost the potential power output of the British manufacturer's P6 saloon offering. However, the project failed - there were defects associated with the fuel system.

Then, in 1976, Audi introduced its drive model. It was the 2,1 liter DOHC engine from the 100. The project was a success, and the unit was also offered in subsequent versions of cars - the Audi Sport Quattro with a capacity of 305 hp. and RS2 Avant with 315 hp. It was also used in the German manufacturer's Audi S1 ​​Sport Quattro E2 sports car, as well as the 90 hp Audi 90. Later R5 powered Audi models include the TT RS, RS3 and Quattro Concept.

The R5 petrol engine has also been introduced by brands such as Volvo (850), Honda (Vigor, Inspire, Ascot, Rafaga and Acura TL), VW (Jetta, Passat, Golf, Rabbit and New Beetle in the US) and Fiat (Bravo , Coupe, Stilo) and Lancia (Kappa, Lybra, Thesis).